Sand Marble Rally 2017 - Race 10
The tenth race of 2017 was raced on the same lay-out as race 9, except that this time the little mill at the start had been removed. Race Report After the starting straight and the initial mild right-hander, El Capitan slotted into the lead ahead of Pollo Loco, Red Number 3, Summer Sky and Dragon's Egg. Red Number 3 continued to accelerate faster than just about everybody else and moved into the lead shortly before the field moved into a split. Red Number 3 and Pollo Loco opted for the higher line, but just about every other marble went to the lower line. The top three runners maintained their positions at the end of the split, but Summer Sky was demoted into sixth by Dragon's Egg and Slimer. Shortly after, Comet also passed Summer Sky to move into sixth. Slimer continued to move through the pack by passing Dragon's Egg for fourth. By this point, Red Number 3 had built a very major lead over El Capitan and went off-screen, with only a sign being there to remind of his existence. About thirty seconds into the race, there was a wall on the course which several marbles jumped over and ended up gaining time. El Capitan jumped the wall and maintained second, with Slimer doing the same and moving ahead of Pollo Loco for third. The major gainer though was Glassy, who earlier was running outside the top ten, only to move up into fourth after he jumped the wall. Pollo Loco fell to fifth after failing to jump, and then was demoted to sixth after Comet passed him. In another split, Slimer opted for the lower line which ended up being the slower one and he lost third to Glossy. Meanwhile, El Capitan in second pulled out a major gap on Glassy and Slimer, only to arrive at a teardrop and find the runaway leader Red Number 3 stranded on the course. El Capitan navigated the teardrop, only to then get stuck on a plinko board with Glassy also getting collected. Wisp of Darkness, who was running in fourth seemingly out of nowhere, also hit the plinko board and dislodged El Capitan and Glassy, but immediately moved to the left to avoid getting collected and took the lead in the process. El Capitan and Glassy fell to fourth and second respectively after getting knocked loose, with Crazy Cat's Eye splitting them in third. Summer Sky was back in contention, running in fifth place after all other marbles piled into the plinko board. Glassy attacked Wisp of Darkness for the lead but couldn't slip past, while El Capitan was able to move ahead of Crazy Cat's Eye into third. Some three-quarters of the way through, Wisp of Darkness managed to pull away from Glassy and establish a solid lead. After losing sight of the victory, El Capitan started to fade as he was re-passed by Crazy Cat's Eye and additionally lost fourth to Summer Sky. Glassy closed back up to Wisp of Darkness and briefly took the lead coming off a rotating chevron sign, but Wisp of Darkness was able to retake it. Glassy didn't lose hope and drafted Wisp of Darkness all the way to the final left-hander while still looking for a pass. However, Wisp of Darkness came off the left-hander better and took the win home. Glassy and Crazy Cat's Eye rounded out the podium and Summer Sky and El Capitan rounded out the top five. Ghost Plasma finished sixth, Slimer seventh, Dragon's Egg eighth, Fantasy ninth and Deep Ocean rounded out the top ten. Red Number 3 came home eleventh after getting dislodged by his fellow competitors. Pollo Loco, Blizzard Blaster, Big Pearl and Comet took the minor point placings. H2 Blue, points leader Quicksilver and Black Knight were the final finishing marbles. There were two DNF's and both of these were rookies who got stranded on the course, with Nemo getting stuck at the teadrop (where previously Red Number 3 was stuck) and Lollipop having stopped just before the plinko board. getting stuck at the Plinko Board and Glassy.]] Classification *Note: **P1–P7 is on the front row **P8–P13 is on the second row **P14–P20 is on the back row Championship standings after the race Category:Sand Marble Rally Category:Sand Marble Rally 2017